HE-WHO-DECIDES-HOW-HARD-THE-FOOT-IS-SHOVED-UP-THE-ASS
by Romantic Warrior 1999
Summary: The battle that never happened... The unposted, dramatic chapter that describes the battle between the Female Titan and the eccentric Crimson Spartan.


**I don't own Halo or Attack On Titan.**

 **ATTACK ON TITAN: THE SHIFT OF TIDES:**

 **HE-WHO-DECIDES-HOW-HARD-THE-FOOT-IS-SHOVED-UP-THE-ASS:**

 **[-]**

Lucius slashed at Annie's face and jumped down to the cobbled street. "Ha-Ha! Call me Aizen, cuz you got mind-fucked!" Lucius yelled triumphantly. He then leaped away as the Titaness attempted to stomp the Spartan into the ground.

"Red card!" Lucius yelled as he barrel-rolled across the street. Soon he stopped his roll and got back up, running around Annie.

Annie glared at Lucius. She made sure to keep her attention on him. For whatever reason, no one was jumping into the fight. Not even Eren, who was giving her a look in his Titan-form that could kill, moved. It obviously meant that the Red Spartan had some sort of plan in mind, the only problem was that Annie just couldn't seem to figure out what it was.

 _He's planning something…_ Annie thought to herself. _But what is it? There isn't any coordination in his attacks at all. Everything he seems to do is random. Just what is he thinking?_

The soldiers stood all around, staring at the battle unfolding in front of them. The Survey Corps was surprised to find that there was a third Spartan in their midst. Their surprise could only be equaled by their frustration, for the soldiers had been ordered by Levi to stand down and not interfere.

The soldiers were restless, eying the battle nervously. Apparently the Crimson Spartan had some manner of business with Leonhart that was of the personal kind. It had to be important since not even the Master Chief or Noble Six made a move to help their comrade. From all that was happening, all the soldiers had one common question: _What was the Spartan thinking?_

Captain Levi kept his blades at the ready, but stood relaxed on the rooftop. He had wanted to fight Annie himself, for a manner of reasons. But the Captain's plan had been interrupted with the appearance of the new Spartan. At first, Levi didn't really care and would've joined in on the fight. But Master Chief and Noble Six had stopped him and requested that the newcomer fight alone. Levi complied reluctantly, believing that it was part of a bigger plan. But even he couldn't help but wonder: _Just what is he thinking?_

Eren, in his Titan-form, stared at the Red Spartan. He couldn't escape the feeling that the Spartan was…familiar. Feelings of familiarity aside, Eren didn't understand why they weren't going in to help. He complied by Captain Levi's and Master Chief's orders. Eren had known the Spartan II long enough that he wouldn't give such an order without there being a valid reason for it. That reason appeared to be a manner of trust in the Spartan that was fighting Annie alone. All of this led to Eren's question. _What was he thinking?_

Master Chief eyed his old friend while keeping his Rocket Launcher ready. John had known Lucius since they were six-years old. They had been together in every training exercise, the Spartan enhancement procedures and on countless missions during the Human-Covenant War. Yet after all this time, the Master Chief couldn't help but think one thing… _What the hell is he thinking now?_

As Lucius charged the Female Titan, spinning his swords as he did so, he only thought one thing…

 _I'm a super-enhanced, over-touted, armored, half-Polish, half-Japanese, red Power Ranger, wielding the cliché combo of fire and swords, on a planet where Humanity has been thinned out to less than a million Germans and one Japanese girl, fighting an oversized homunculi, while the German equivalent of Shinji Akari looks on. I love my fucking job._

"Banzai!" Lucius yelled as he dashed at Annie's feet. The Spartan then dropped and slid across the ground, right in between Annie's feet. The Spartan casually slashed out the flesh in the Titaness' ankles as he looked up. "So you're a hermaphrodite…" The Spartan commented.

Inside the Female Titan's nape, Annie's face formed into one of scandalous outrage. _How dare he!_ Unfortunately, the Titan-shifter's thoughts were interrupted as she lost balance and fell to her knees. She managed to catch herself with her arms as she fell. This was bad, she lost a lot of mobility.

Lucius, in the meantime, got out of his power slide and fired off his grapple at a nearby building. He flew up for a few seconds before making a U-turn at Annie's exposed back.

"You Titan Shifters are so shameless, parading around with your giant, naked bodies! I don't know what's worse, no junk or no Titan-sized clothing!"

Annie glanced over her shoulder at the Spartan, she hardened the skin on her fist and twisted around.

"Don't you get it?!" Lucius demanded, annoyed. "I already watched _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_. You're essentially an oversized, female Greed!" Lucius then activated his flamethrowers and sent a barrage of red, hot flames at the Titaness. The burst of fire knocked Annie slightly back, torching most of her body and destroying the hardened skin. The Female Titan winced in pain, snarling in anger at her foe.

Her display of rage was soon interrupted as Lucius rammed the Titaness in the face with his feet. The burnt Titaness fell face first into a building, sending a cloud of dust and debris into the air.

Lucius fired off his grapple gun and whizzed high up into the air, spinning as he did so. He stopped his spinning and unsheathed his swords, surveying the situation down below. "That makes one…" The Spartan II muttered under his breath. _Despite the difference in appearance and size, Titans-shifters are essentially homunculi._ Lucius thought to himself. _And If I'm right, that means the weaknesses are the same… But let's test it…_

Annie groggily rose from the building and stumbled slightly. Steam came off the Titaness as she regenerated her wounds. She lifted her head uncertainly, searching for Lucius. She saw the Crimson Spartan high up in the air, pointing his Suppressed Magnum Pistol at her.

Lucius squeezed the trigger, firing off a trio of rounds at the Titaness' nape. Now rather than harden her skin, Annie shifted her body and all three shots missed the nape, hitting her in the shoulder.

Behind the Recon Helmet, Lucius smirked. _That confirms it. Just like a homunculi, she can't regenerate and use her ability at the same time… If she really is like Greed, well then I'll just have to Ace this…_ The Spartan thought to himself humorously… _Oh my god, I'm terrible…_

While Lucius was in the middle of devising his next plan of attack, his thoughts were interrupted by the crackle of the com in his helmet.

"Lucius?" Six's voice sounded. "What's the plan?"

"From what I've seen, she's essentially a homunculi. A lot of telltale signs…" The Spartan II answered. "Essentially, the best way to beat her is to hit her with lots of firepower. I mean like go Natsu on her ass."

"I don't understand."

"It's simple. A homunculi generally has a healing factor and special ability. Now, she can't regenerate while using the ability and she can't use the ability while regenerating. From what I've seen, her abilities resemble Greed's, down to the carbon manipulation. The way that he was defeated in the show was by changing his carbon into a weaker form. Carbon bends under heat and pressure…" Lucius gave off an evil grin as he holstered his gun and pulled out his sword.

"… _Good thing I'm packin' both."_

Six was silent at first. Then it crackled once more. "Give her hell, buddy."

" _Zaczynajmy!"_ Lucius responded. Then he shot straight back down towards the Titaness. He reared his blades back, both shined with cruel silver, light. "This one's for Krillin!"

Annie looked up at her descending opponent with fear and got back up, staggering slightly as she started to run away. She couldn't fight the new Spartan as she was. The streets were too cramped for her to dodge his fire attacks, and he was too fast for her to fight. _If I fight him, he'll beat me!_ Annie thought as she broke into a sprint.

The Spartan noticed his opponent escaping and pulled out his grapple gun and fired off at the Female Titan's shoulder. "I got her!" The cable went taut. "No, I don't! Wahhhhh!" Lucius screamed as he suddenly got pulled along with Annie. "Well, crikey! Looks like I stepped in it this time! Stay tuned for what happens next on _The Titan Hunter_!"

"She's making a run for it!" Levi yelled.

Chief turned and looked at Eren. "Eren! Follow them! We'll catch up!"

Eren's voice crackled on the com. "On it' Chief!" The Titan-shifter then went out into the street and started to follow in hot pursuit.

"Everyone, follow them!" Levi commended. Then the short Captain leaped off the roof, firing off his 3DMG. Everyone else followed suit, with the Survey Corps soldiers using their 3DMGs and the Spartans using their Jet-Packs. "If she gets past the wall, we'll never catch up to her!"

"Master Chief!" A familiar voice called out.

The Spartan II turned his head to see Jean joining the advancing soldiers. "What are you doing here?" Chief inquired. Jean was supposed to be serving as Eren's stand in back in the transport carriage. Yet here the boy was, in his 3DMG.

"After the explosions went off, the MP's panicked. They forgot all about Eren and are trying to mobilize! I managed to sneak away and change into my gear! I'm here to help!"

"Hate to break it to you, Jean…" Armin intervened. "But we're probably not going to do anything."

"How come? Is it Eren?"

"Not only him, but a new Spartan as well."

"What? A new Spartan?!" Jean yelled in disbelief. He couldn't believe it. He thought that the only Spartans were Master Chief and Noble Six.

Mikasa soon joined the conversation. "That's right. A red one, he's powerful and he seems to know Chief."

"Really? Just how powerful is he?"

"He's managed to wound Annie multiple times. And right now, he's being dragged by her. Eren went ahead and is following them."

"Let's hope that this time we'll get her." Jean muttered mostly to himself.

* * *

"In hindsight, it was a bad idea to latch onto the enemy." Lucius muttered to himself. "But then again, at least I know where she is…" The Spartan trailed off as he was mercilessly pulled by the Female Titan, bucking and swaying with each of the Giantess' movements. Lucius sighed. _It's at moments like these that I wish Megazords, EVAs, Gundams or Godzilla existed…_ The Red Spartan thought to himself pitifully _…Who am I kidding? I wish Gurren Lagann existed…_

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Lucius heard loud footsteps behind him and saw Eren-in his Titan Form-barreling down the street at full speed. Upon seeing Eren, Lucius sniffed and smiled under his helmet. _You really were listening, weren't you, God?_ The Senior Chief wondered, touched by how one of his many dreams was coming true.

The Spartan then released the cable on Annie's shoulder and flew back, towards Eren. Eren saw Lucius flying at him and carefully caught the Red Spartan with both of his Titan-sized hands, stumbling for a moment before recovering.

Lucius looked around him, surprisingly finding himself unharmed. Then he looked up at Eren's gigantic face. "Hey Tiny, you caught me. Now let me go." Eren released his grip on Lucius and the latter jumped onto the former's right shoulder. Lucius grabbed onto Eren's hair, while trying to balance himself out on the charging Titan-shifter's shoulder. Once he was satisfied with his position, Lucius turned his attention back to Eren. "Alright, let me guess…Chief sent ya."

Eren gave a slight nod of confirmation as a response. _Yeah._

Lucius nodded his head in return, understanding the situation. "I see... And you're not going to go away if I told you to?"

Eren shook his head. _No._

"Well then can I ask one thing of you?" Lucius asked as he opened one of the many compartments on his waist. He pulled something out of the compartment and reached up to his helmet. When his hand went back down, on top of the helmet's visor were a pair of orange sunglasses. "Can you call me Kamina, and can I call you Simon for the remainder of this fight?"

Eren's only reply was a confused look.

"Never mind…" Lucius added on with a hint of disappointment. But then he placed it aside and swelled up. "Alright! _LET'S JUST DO IT_!"*:•°

Eren nodded and continued to run after Annie, accelerating faster than before.

" _BANZAIIIII!"_ Lucius screamed, his battle-cry carrying through the streets.

Annie heard Lucius' battle cry from behind her and looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened in fright when she saw that the Crimson Spartan was riding on Eren's shoulder, following her at full speed. Things were bad enough with the Spartan alone, but with Eren things had gotten way worse. She barely stood a chance against the Spartans and Eren had managed to almost beat her back in the forest. _Forget trying to capture Eren! I need to get out of here! If I regroup with the others, then I might have a chance!_

Lucius turned to Eren. "Okay, I have a plan. As long as you do what I say, it'll work. Clear?"

Eren nodded. _Understood._

"Good. Now then…RAM THAT BITCH!"

Eren complied with the command and bounded forward with an incredible boost of speed. The good news was that Eren had managed to tackle the Female Titan and the two rolled across the street. The bad news was that Lucius was on Eren the entire time.

"Yeow! Too close! Too close! Oh shit, rock! No, no, anywhere but _there_! Oh, so she's such a washboard… Oh crap! I did not think this through! I did not think this through! Oh my god! Thank god they don't have junk! Oh my- A kitten! I gotta remember where that was… Watch it! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! This is worse than a Michael Bay scene! Yeaaaaaaaarrrggghhh!"

After less than a minute of tumultuous rolling, the two Titans halted themselves and stood up, swaying slightly. Eren raised his hands up, getting into his fighting stance. He noticed that his shoulder was devoid of his Spartan companion and looked around.

"Blerrrrrgh!" A sickening sound came from behind Eren. A few seconds later, a sickly Lucius crawled back up to Eren's shoulder. "Scrambled eggs before a fight… _bad idea_." He mumbled in a sickly tone. The Spartan took a few seconds to compose himself and regain his bearings. He looked over to the other end of the street to see Annie taking her fighting stance. Lucius looked at Eren. "Okay, remember, do what I say. Got it?"

Eren nodded again.

"Get ready… let her come to us. We're playing hard to get after all."

The Titans stood facing one another in the street. Neither one moved, simply eyeing their enemy with hate.

 _So this is the real you, Annie…_ Eren thought to himself. _I remember how you said that fighting was useless and pointless. But the truth was that it wasn't pointless. For you, it was as though being free…Why, Annie? Why are you doing this?! Just what are you fighting for?!_

As Eren was trying to make sense of the situation, Annie herself was thinking. _I underestimated you, Eren. Back in training, I thought you were nothing more than some hopeless moron. But you exceeded my expectations, both in skill and importance. Had it not been for those Spartans, my mission would've been completed sooner. Even now they meddle in my plans…_

… _Use the Force…_

Eren's eyes widened. Did the Spartan just-?

"Here she comes!" Lucius yelled. "Dodge!"

Eren pushed his thoughts aside and obeyed the command, sidestepping as Annie's fist passed only a few feet away from his face.

"Now counter!"

Eren looped his arms around Annie's and twisted it, breaking the arm. Some blood spurted from the area that was broken.

"And kick!"

Eren released his hold on Annie and kicked her back at a building. The Titaness hit the building with her back and fell to the ground on her knees.

"Kick again!"

Annie saw the attack coming this time and rolled out of the way. She stood up and smacked a building, sending dirt and rubble flying at Lucius and Eren.

"Duck!" Eren immediately side stepped the projectiles. Most of the rubble whizzed past Eren, while a few pieces embedded themselves in Eren's right arm. Lucius had managed to escape unharmed, switching to Eren's left shoulder. "Rush her!" The Spartan commanded.

Eren dashed straight up to Annie, stopping only feet away from her face.

"Right hook!"

WHAM!

Eren's right fist connected with Annie's left cheek.

"Left hook!"

WHAM!

"Right hook!"

WHAM!

"Left hook!"

WHAM!

"Uppercut!"

WHAM!

Annie stumbled back slightly.

"Grab and knee in the face!"

Eren reached out with both hands, grabbing Annie's head, pushing it down to meet his incoming knee.

WHAM!

"Two steps back and charge with an uppercut again!"

Eren hopped back some distance from Annie. He crouched down and streaked back across the street, towards his disoriented opponent. Eren reared his fist back, and jumping off the ground, he sent a flying uppercut at Annie. As his fist made contact with the Titaness' jaw, blood erupted from both his fist and her jaw. The force was so great that, Annie flew straight up in the air.

"SHORYUKEN!" Lucius screamed hoarsely. The Spartan II chuckled. This fight was easier than he had expected. The fact that Eren had better hand to hand combat training really helped as well. _I gotta remember to tell Chief he did a good job with the kid…_ Lucius thought to himself.

But the moment of glory and praise went right out the window as Lucius noticed where Annie's crash-slash-landing zone was going to be. Judging from the Female Titan's trajectory, it was safe to assume that the Titaness was going to land on top of what appeared to be a Wallist Church.

Lucius glanced at Eren. "Throw me! Now!"

Eren didn't think twice as Lucius hopped into Eren's hand. Lucius locked his legs together and pinned his arms to his sides, ready for take-off. The Titan Boy reared his arm back and flung the Crimson Spartan after Annie.

"Yee-haw!" Lucius whooped. He flew straight at the Female Titan with tremendous speed. He unpinned his arms and unlocked his legs. "One for the money," The Spartan muttered. "Two for the show," He activated his flamethrowers. "Three to get ready…" Lucius pointed his flamethrowers at the flailing Female Titan. "Here we go!" The Spartan II roared as he sent an enormous blast towards Annie.

FWOOSH!

The fireball made contact on the Female Titan's torso, pushing her through the air. Because of this, Annie flew past the church, and instead crashed into the empty plaza adjacent.

CRASH!

A few moments later, the doors of the main entrance to the church opened and someone ran out. As coincidence would have it, it was the very same man who had attended Master Chief's and Eren's tribunal almost a month ago, Minister Nick. The holy man had been in the middle of a morning sermon when he had suddenly heard the sounds of battle outside his church and had run out to investigate.

He soon found to his horror, the Female Titan laying in the middle of the street. _A Titan in the city?_ The Minister thought frightfully. _No…No! They cannot touch the Wall!_

In the meantime, Lucius, who had managed to save the civilians in the church sighed in relief. _That makes two…_ He thought.

But his relief was short-lived, as he noticed that the force from his flamethrower blast had sent him flying away from the area.

"Oh yeah…Gravity works." Lucius told himself. Then he proceeded to scream loudly. "Wahhhhhh!"

* * *

Nile Dok, Commander of the Military Police Brigade, was frustrated. He had been charged with the task of escorting the Survey Corps, along with Eren Jaeger and the Spartans, to the Capitol. There they were to face yet another tribunal. It seemed like a simple enough task.

The truth turned out to be something else entirely.

Not only was Eren and the Spartans absent from the transport carriage, but there had been multiple explosions going off in the city. Nile had sent off soldiers to investigate the disturbances and determine what was going on. As he waited for the scouts to report back, he issued out orders for his men to equip their 3DMGs. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Soon, one of the scouts appeared on top of a roof above the Commander and his men, who were struggling with their Gears' buckles. "Sir!" The scout yelled out. "There appear to be 15-meter class Titans rampaging through the city!"

Nile looked up at the scout with a mixture of shock and fear. "What?" The Commander barely choked out. _It can't be…Titans in the city?! But this is Wall Sina! There shouldn't be Titans around for kilometers!_ The Commander looked back at the scout. "Are you sure?!"

The scout nodded. "Yes, sir! We also saw that a Spartan was engaging one of them!"

Nile blinked. "Which one? The Master Chief or Noble Six?" The Commander inquired.

"Not sure, sir! It was the red one!"

Nile looked down, trying to comprehend what he had heard. _A Red Spartan? But the Master Chief has green armor, and according to the reports Noble Six is supposed to be gray. It doesn't make any sense…_ Then Nile froze as something occurred to him. Why were the Spartans over there in the first place?

They had appeared almost instantaneously on the scene, and were supposed to be in the transport carriage. Instead, the Commander had found it to be empty. They had to have gotten out earlier from the carriage, but how did they know where the Titans were going to appear?

Suddenly, it dawned on the young Commander. He turned his head, searching for a familiar face among the crowd of soldiers in the street. His eyes came upon the Commander of the Survey Corps, who stood watching the billows of smoke solemnly. Nile approached his fellow officer, looking at the blonde-haired man with disbelief.

"You knew…" Nile began. It had all made sense. How Eren and the Spartans were missing. How the Spartans were already on the scene of the Titan appearance. They had known since the very beginning. "You knew that Titans were going to appear in Stohess. You didn't tell us that they were going to appear. You didn't tell us you were setting a trap. And you didn't tell us that there was third Spartan!" Nile yelled angrily.

Erwin appeared to be unfazed at Nile's outburst. Rather, he showed slight surprise when Nile mentioned the third Spartan. "Nile, I had no other choice but to keep it from you. If I had told you, you would've written it off as a desperate excuse or the spy would've caught wind of the plan. Total secrecy was our best option. As for this new Spartan, I'm afraid I'm as clueless as you are."

Nile reached out and grabbed Erwin by the scruff of his jacket. "I've just had about enough of your selfishness! You-!"

Unfortunately, Nile could not finish his rant, for it had been interrupted by someone screaming. It started off faint at first, but it grew and grew until its source was upon them.

"-Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

CRASH!

The source of the scream landed with a loud and slightly earth-shaking crash. A cloud of dust came up around the impact zone. The soldiers heard coughing come from the ruined portion of the cobbled street.

Nile released his grip on Erwin and the two approached the crater cautiously. As they came closer and the dust began to dissipate, they found themselves looking at a Red-Armored Spartan.

The Spartan groaned as he picked himself up. He continued to lay on the ground and looked around him, finding multiple people to be staring at him. Sensing the two Commanders standing behind him, Lucius turned around to face them.

The Spartan and the Commanders merely stared at one another for several seconds. Then Lucius decided to break the awkward silence. "Who the fuck are you guys?"

Nile was slightly taken aback by the Spartan's rude language. But the Commander regained his composure and proceeded to introduce himself. "I am Commander—!"

"On second thought, I don't care." Lucius responded as he slowly begun to stand up.

Nile was completely flabbergasted. "Now see here-!"

"Can anyone tell me which direction the explosions are coming from?" Lucius demanded loudly. "I'm looking for a certain bitch! You can't miss her! Fifteen meters tall, short-cut blonde hair, naked and an ass that would put Kim Kardashian to shame! She's also a spy in the Military Police Brigade!"

Nike approached the Crimson Spartan, shushing him rather loudly. "Please be quiet!" Nile hissed. "The last thing the soldiers need to hear about are spies in the ranks! Please refrain from announcing it!"

Lucius nodded. "I see. I understand my mistake."

Nile let out a sigh of relief. That had been too close…

Then Lucius turned back to the soldiers and spoke out louder than before. "EXCUSE ME! BUT IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT THERE WAS A FUCKING TITAN SHIFTER WITHIN THE MILITARY POLICE'S RANKS! IF YOU WOULD PLEASE KINDLY POINT ME IN THE DIRECTION OF THE DESTRUCTION AND THE CHAOS, I WILL HANDLE THE SITUATION WITH NO LOSS OF LIFE AND MINIMAL PROPERTY DAMAGE, AND BRING AS LITTLE SHAME TO YOU MP'S AS POSSIBLE! THANK YOU!" Lucius then turned his attention back to Nile. "Was that better?"

Upon hearing Lucius' loud and insulting tirade, the MP Commander's face had turned the same shade of red as the Spartan's armor. Nile was seething with anger at super-soldier. He had specifically requested the Spartan not to announce the issue of the spy. Instead the Spartan went on to say it and even louder than before! Just who did he think he was?!

BOOM!

Lucius turned his head in the direction of the noise. "Ah!" The Spartan exclaimed, pleased. "There they are! Listen, I'd love to stay and chat, but unlike you guys, I have to go do my job!" Lucius said cheerfully before running down the street. "T-T-F-N! Ta-Ta For Now!" He called out over his shoulder.

"Hey!" Nile shouted. "Hold on a moment!"

Lucius didn't bother to look back as he raised his middle finger at the Military Police Commander. "I fart in your general direction!"

Nile could only stand and watch Lucius continued to run down the street, heading toward the sounds of battle. He heard a snigger next to him and turned to see Erwin with a ghost of a smile.

"I must say," The Survey Corps Commander began. "Out of all the Spartans I've met so far, he's perhaps the most…colorful."

Nile frowned in anger and turned to face his bumbling soldiers. "Hurry the hell up!" He commanded rather uncouthly. He then turned around and walked away from the still smiling Erwin.

Annie punched Eren in the face, knocking him back slightly. But he recovered and retaliated with an elbow to her face.

 _Remember, Annie?_ Eren's thoughts raced with a mix of nostalgia and rage. _Back in training, you loved showing off your skills. Throwing everyone around like sacks of shit, looking down on everyone who couldn't beat you. You thought no one could ever stand up to you…You were wrong._

Eren reached out and grabbed the Female Titan. He lifted her above his head and slammed her down into the street. The ground cracked and crumbled while blood from the Titaness' body flew into the air.

 _Damn you, Eren!_ Annie screamed mentally. _Damn you and the Survey Corps and the Spartans! I will not fail in my mission again!_

With a look of contempt and rage, Annie kicked Eren off his feet. The Titan Boy came crashing down to the ground next to the Female Titan, landing on his back. With almost lightning speed, Annie threw herself on top of Eren. She sat on his chest and pinned his arms to the ground with her own.

Eren tried to free himself, but Annie's grip was too strong. He roared in defiance, transmitting his hate towards Annie through it.

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAA!"

As Eren was screaming, she pinned him down harder and arced her head to the back of his neck. She opened her jaws wide and unhinged them. _Sorry, Eren. But they're no Spartans around to save you this time. This time, you're mine…_

Annie's jaws inched closer to Eren's nape. He tried to struggle, free himself before it was too late. But to no avail, she had pinned him down good. _No! It can't end like this! I won't let you win! Too many people have died! Too many people are relying on me for me to lose!_

FWOOSH!

A blast of fire hit the Female Titan's side, knocking her off of Eren. The flames burnt through her flesh, and even though some had gotten on Eren, they were minor burns.

Eren turned his head in the direction of the blast to find Lucius.

Annie glared at her Crimson opponent. _Not him again!_

"Now...Now…" Lucius began in a cocky tone. "Don't you think you're taking it a bit too far for a first date?" Then the Spartan's gaze hardened. "No, but seriously. Leave him out of this. This fight's between you and me."

Annie got back up, wiping Titan blood off from her bottom lip. She glared at Lucius. From the very beginning, this Spartan had been getting in her way. At every turn, he was waiting. Behind every corner, he was watching. For every attack, he had a counter and a witty remark.

She was sick of it. She was sick of the Master Chief, Noble Six, the Survey Corps, Eren and most of all, she was sick of the Red Spartan. If she wanted any chance of escaping the city, the Red Spartan had to be taken care of. And the Titaness had more than enough motivation to silence the Crimson Warrior's mouth.

The female titan took an intimidating stance and let put a guttural and intimidating roar.

"RRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!"

The Titaness stomped her feet and clenched her fists, showing off her power to the seven-foot warrior. One final battle. Just her and the Spartan. Winner takes all.

The Spartan II appeared unfazed by the show of force. As a matter of fact, a smile formed behind the Recon helmet. Lucius wasn't going to lie, he had been hoping this would happen. _Heh-heh-heh…Just like a teenager…_ He thought to himself ruefully. _Showing off their skills, making loud noise, trying to prove themselves…She's making this too easy. Then again, I was the same at her age…_ The super-soldier was then reminded of the purpose he had to fulfill in this battle and took his stance as well.

The two enemies stood at opposite ends of the street, facing one another.

Eren, who had been lying on the ground up to that point, got up. For a second, he was going to take advantage of Annie's attention on the Spartan and attack. But a whistle from the other end of the street made the boy's head turn. He saw the Crimson Spartan look at Eren and nudge his head. The message was simple: _Get out of the way._

At first, Eren thought that he should attack Annie when he had the chance. But he stopped. Eren had seen more than enough of the Spartan's skills to see that he was more than capable of defeating Annie. If he fought, he would only get in the Spartan's way. Besides that, he had a feeling that the Spartan was holding back for some reason. So Eren ducked back into a side street and made his way behind Lucius.

"RRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!"

Annie let out one final roar, getting ready to charge.

"Wait!" Lucius yelled. Then he pressed a few buttons on his gauntlet. A second later, _Get Ready To Die_ began to play over the Mark 6's speakers. The Spartan turned his attention back to Annie. "Now we can begin."

WHOOSH!  
BOOM! BOOM!

The Spartan and the Titaness charged at one another.

As Lucius dashed at Annie, he made a strange hand gesture. "SHADOW CLONE NO JUTSU!" A moment later, there was a slightly blinding light and a pair of Holographic Decoys appeared on Lucius' left and right. All three Lucius's drew their swords. The Spartans didn't slow down for a second, continuing their charge.

Annie, in turn, hardened the skin on her fist. She knew that the Spartan was trying to confuse her. All that Annie had to do was figure out which of the three Spartans was the real one. Then she would have to corner him and strike fast.

Just before the Titan and the Spartans made contact, the super-soldiers split off, each going in a different direction. The one on the center went right, the left one went to the center and the right one went left.

 _He's trying to confuse me!_ Annie halted immediately. She instinctively placed her left hand on her nape, while keeping her hardened right in a ready manner. The Female Titan watched as the Spartans circled her. It was clever, the Spartan had to have premeditated this strategy. But it didn't matter. As long as Annie found the real one, he was done for.

But first, she had to eliminate any distractions…

One of the Spartans leapt up at Annie, raising his sword back. Annie sent her elbow straight at the Spartan. It rammed the Spartan square in the chest before it flickered and disappeared in a flash of light.

 _That's one down…_ Annie thought as she turned her attention back to the other two Spartans. With only two Spartans left, she had a fifty-fifty chance of getting the real one. She had to at least hit one of them to determine her next move.

In the meantime, the Spartans' behavior became more erratic. Instead of staying in the street, the two started to jump and mantle the buildings surrounding them. Now with one of the doppelgangers gone, the element of surprise for the Spartan had decreased.

The Spartans seemed to retain their determination and continued to circle around their prey. Soon however, one of the Spartans got too close to the Titaness.

The Female Titan saw the Spartan get too close and slammed her hand down in front of him, blocking his path. Then she slid it back, smacking the Spartan. The Spartan flew through the air, flickering for several seconds before disappearing in a flash of light.

That made it official. The last Spartan was the real one. Now all she had to do was somehow corner the Spartan. Once he was trapped she could finish him off. _It's the end of the line for you, Spartan._

"What's the matter?! Tired already?!" The Spartan taunted as he leaped around Annie.

Inside the Titan nape, Annie smirked. _You only wish, you fool._

Annie twisted around and hit the building Lucius was on.

CRASH!

The Spartan leapt out of the way, just in the nick of time. However, he had no time to rest as Annie proceeded to throw a systematic, rapid volley of attacks.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

Soon, Lucius had run out of roof and was forced to leap down to the ground. He landed with a grunt, and got back up, ready to continue his evasive maneuvers. But misfortune had befallen the Crimson Spartan. As he looked up around him, Lucius found that he had unfortunately landed in a dead-end alley.

He looked around, trying to find some means of escape. The Spartan turned and tried to run out the alley, only to find the Female Titan standing in his way.

Annie looked down on the trapped Spartan while giving an evil look of victory. _Nowhere to run, Spartan! I have you now!_ And so the Titaness reared her foot back and sent it flying at the Spartan with full force.

The kick made contact with Lucius, hitting him dead-center. He flew back, letting out a cry of pain and terror. "Argh!"

 _Yes!_ Annie thought ecstatically. _I beat him!_

Eren, who had been watching the fight thus far, widened his eyes in shock and despair. _No! He can't be beaten! He's a Spartan!_ Then the Titan-shifter looked down in guilt. _I did it again…I made the wrong choice again. And because of it, someone died again…It's all my fault…_

At the same time that Eren was grieving, Annie was rejoicing in her victory. _Ha! Take that! I knew that you Spartans aren't all powerful!_ As soon as the Female Titan thought those arrogant and prideful words, the flying Spartan began to stopped rejoicing and stared at the Spartan with horror-filled eyes.

 _No…_

Then the Spartan flickered one last time and disappeared in a flash of light.

Annie stared at the spot that the Holographic Decoy disappeared. _No! How is that possible?! If that was a fake, then where's the real one?!_ The Titaness screamed internally in a mix of rage and confusion.

A voice spoke up behind her. "Confused?"

She whirled around, facing the direction of the voice. At the moment that Annie's face was turned, two ninjato's spun themselves into both of her eyes.

SPLURT! SPLURT!

A few meters behind the two, short swords, dashing across the rooftop, was none other than the real Lucius.

The truth behind the matter was simple. Back when Lucius yelled out "SHADOW CLONE NO JUTSU", the Spartan created Holographic Decoys of himself. However, the Spartan had in reality created _three_ decoys, not _two_. As the decoys took form, the Spartan had activated his active camouflage under the cover of the bright light. So as the decoys were rushing and distracting the Female Titan, Lucius was stealthily getting into position behind her.

 _Part one of my master plan complete..._ The Spartan thought to himself. _Now for part two…_

The Spartan ran and jumped off the roof, his grapple gun at the ready. The Spartan fired of the grapple gun and whizzed towards Annie's face. The Spartan grabbed his swords and pulled them out of his foe's eyes. He spun around, slashing the Titaness' face as he did so. Content with the damage, he sheathed one sword on his back before grabbing the grapple gun.

After that, the Spartan became a blur, whizzing all around Annie's body. First, there was the red blur of his armor, followed by the silver flash of his sword. Then there was red again, as Titan blood spouted from the cuts. The Spartan went all around, sparing no spot of his sword.

As Lucius dealt his damage, Annie stumbled about, helpless. She had been blinded, and the Spartan was too close and moving too fast for her to land an attack with her free hand. The Titaness knew she couldn't do anything in her present condition. So she desperately kept her hand on top of her nape, hardening the skin on the back of her hand.

Seconds later, when cuts spanned all across the Titan-shifter's body, Lucius whipped up into the air. As he flew, the Spartan II sheathed his sword and holstered his grapple gun.

While he flew, Annie's eyes were regenerating from the earlier surprise attack. As soon as the eyes had finished healing, they exploded in blood once more. Lucius had noticed her desperate attempt to regain her sight and made it void with four, well placed shots from his Suppressed Magnum.

The Spartan spun the pistol around before returning it to its rightful spot. Then he flew back down, descending upon his giant foe with breakneck speed. Lucius reached to his back and instead of taking his swords, he pulled out a familiar weapon.

The weapon was purple and curved, with pink crystals protruding from the top.

It was a Needler.

Lucius pointed his Needler at the Female Titan's hardened hand and opened fire on it. A barrage of pink crystals flew at the hand, imbedding themselves in it. He continued to fire, until all the crystals had been exhausted. At first, nothing happened. Then the crystals began to crackle and glow with an eerie pink light.

BOOM!

The Needler crystals exploded, shattering the diamond-like skin.

In the nape, Annie's eyes widened with horror. _He destroyed my hardened skin?! I didn't know that they had a weapon capable of doing that!_

"The fun's not over yet!" Lucius yelled excitedly. The Crimson Spartan then reloaded his Needler and pulled out his grapple gun once more. He fired off the grapple gun and swung around Annie's giant body. As he leapt, jumped and zipped around the buildings, Lucius released a constant barrage of crystals into the Female Titan. The cuts from earlier-that were closing up in clouds of steam-were reopened with the Needler's help.

Ammo exhausted once more, Lucius put the Needler back on his back. Then he activated his flamethrowers once more. Only this time, instead of flames, an orange spray shot out of them. The Spartan took his time, covering Annie in a layer of orange fluid.

Once he was finished, Lucius landed back in the street, his back turned towards his exhausted enemy. With a cool disposition, Lucius pulled out his Suppressed Magnum Pistol again. He took the pistol and without looking, pointed it back at Annie.

"Ka-Boom." Lucius muttered before pulling the trigger.

BANG!

The bullet flew towards Annie, hitting a Needler crystal. The crystal shattered and crackled with pink electricity. In turn, the pink sparks lit the fluid on the Titan's body, and flames spread all across the Titaness. As the flames spread, the crystals started to glow from the heat that was destabilizing them.

KA-BOOM!

The crystals exploded, sending Annie flying backwards through the streets.

CRASH! BOOM! B-BOOM! CRASH!

As Annie flew back, Eren looked down and stared at Lucius with wide eyes. _He's so much smaller than Annie and he only had a handful of weapons! But he managed to deliver enough damage to rival an artillery barrage, and he did it quickly and precisely!_ Eren thought to himself, amazed by what he had witnessed. The boy should've known that the Spartan would pack a punch, but he was completely astounded by it. Eren was seriously starting to think that the Red Spartan was more powerful than his own teacher.

"Hey!"

Eren's thoughts were interrupted as Lucius called out to him. The boy turned his attention back onto the Spartan, listening to what he had to say.

"In the future, look away from the explosion!" Lucius lectured much to Eren's confusion. "Never look directly at an explosion! There's two reasons as to why! First off, cool guys never look at explosions! And second, if you do look, you could blind yourself and hurt your eyes! It's a matter of practicality _and_ machismo!" The Spartan II explained. " _Clear_?!"

Eren could do nothing but nod. He didn't understand completely, but they didn't have time for explanations at the moment.

"Good!" Lucius nodded in turn, pleased with the Titan's understanding. Then Lucius turned around and looked at the trail of rubble and fire before him. _It's not over yet…_

* * *

The burnt and beaten Annie came to full stop. The Titaness had truly overestimated herself. In her anger, she had forgotten a few things which led to a barrage of painful and agonizing consequences.

The Titaness picked herself up weakly. _Where am I?_ She thought to herself. Her vision was still hazy, her eyes having not fully healed yet. In a matter of seconds, the hazes started to take concrete form and Annie recognized her surroundings. _It's the market! And if I'm in the market, then that means…_ Annie glanced up, to be greeted by the towering Wall Sina. For the first time that day, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. _If I can just make it over the Wall, I'll be able to escape!_

The Female Titan stood as tall as it possibly could and began to hobble towards the Wall. Escape was right in front of her.

BOOM! BOOM!

A pair of explosions occurred upon the Female Titan. One on the shoulder and the other on her lower back. From the explosions were smoke trails which traced back a few city blocks away.

"Target sighted!" Noble Six yelled before jumping off the roof he was on.

"She's too close to the Wall!" Master Chief responded in equal volume. "If she gets to the other side, it'll all be over!" The Master Chief was no fool. With the Titaness on the other side, she'd be able to run away with her Titan body. Or she could disappear amongst the vast villages and towns, hiding in her human skin. And the worst part was that there was no way that they could even follow. Not if the Military Police had anything to say about it.

Now was their only chance…

Annie looked in the direction where the blasts had come and snarled. _Them!_ Then she turned back to the Wall and bounded toward it with all her strength. _It'll be a cold day in hell before I let you get me! I won't allow it!_ As she hobbled to the Wall, Annie picked up a cart filled with wood and hurled it at the Spartans and Survey Corps.

"Take cover!" Chief yelled.

The soldiers instantly dropped to the ground hiding from the projectile thrown at them.

CRASH!

Annie kept going. The wagon would only buy her a few seconds. She finally reached the Wall and opened her palms. In a matter of moments, her fingers were covered with diamond-like crust. Taking her shiny new talons, she dug them into the Wall and proceeded to climb.

She dug her fingers with a ferocious fury, shredding and damaging the stone Wall. Her freedom, her salvation was so close! She could taste it! The sweet victory of triumphing over the relentless Spartans and Survey Corps! In a matter of moments, she was at the top of the Wall.

Her head came over the brim, only to be greeted by a familiar Crimson figure.

"Tsk-tsk-tsk." Lucius tisked as he shook his head disappointedly. " _So close_ …" The Spartan said mockingly.

All thoughts of victory and glory within Annie's mind were soon replaced with fear and shock. Inside the nape, the girl shook in fright, anger and disbelief. " _How?!"_ Annie screamed inside her nape, forgetting she couldn't communicate in her Titan form. " _How did you get here?!"_

But Lucius heard the muffled scream from the Titan's nape. He gestured over Annie's shoulder. "He threw me." Unbeknownst to Annie, at the base of the Wall, Eren had arrived. The Titan boy now stood and gazed upon what was happening high above him. "Despite what many people say, he was useful."

"I must say," Lucius began, taking a few steps forward. "You put up quite a fight. But our little game of cat and mouse ends here. It's over Annie, I have the high ground." The Spartan was now only two meters away from Annie's face.

" _Why?!_ " Annie demanded. The Spartan was strong. He was cunning. He had powerful weapons and a multitude of opportunities to end their battle. But one thing boggled Annie's mind. " _Why didn't you finish me off when you had the chance?!_ "

Behind the visor, the humorous eyes hardened. "Your first mistake," Lucius muttered softly. "…was thinking this was a battle between life and death. It is not." He then reached his hand down to one of the compartments on his waist. He opened it and pulled out some manner of bundled-up cloth, which he proceeded to unfold. "This- was a battle for honor."

Lucius finished unfolding the cloth and held it up for Annie to see. On the cloth, were four, bloodstained Survey Corps emblems. "You've hurt good people, Miss Leonhart. You broke the rules. Now I don't want to do this, fire-burning is the least of my favorite things to do. But rules are rules are rules, and the punishment for breaking them is fire-burning." Lucius stated ominously as he put the cloth back into the compartment.

Suddenly, two blurs whizzed pat Annie.

SPLURT! SPLURT!

Her fingers were sliced through and the Female Titan began to fall. As she fell, Annie saw that the two blurs who had cut her fingers off were none other than Captain Levi and Mikasa.

"You might want to keep a safe distance." Lucius told the two soldiers before jumping off the Wall after Annie. Lucius glided until he was a few meters above Annie's face.

He stared at the Titaness with cold eyes. _You're going to pay Annie, for what you've done. This last one's special, considering how you killed an engaged woman. I don't take kindly to those kinds of things._

The Spartan then pressed a few buttons. "You forgot one, crucial thing, Miss Leonhart…" Bright flashes of light suddenly appeared all around Lucius.

Annie was blinded by the light at first. But then her vision adjusted and she gazed up with wide, fear-filled eyes. Floating around Lucius, were the dead members of Squad Levi. All four glared at Annie, ready to spring into action.

" _The ghosts of your sins will always come back to haunt you._ " Lucius finished with an ominous tone. Then the Holographic Decoys of Squad Levi vanished in small flashes of light. "Let's end this…"

" _Voice code requested."_ The voice of Lucius' suit's system requested.

The Spartan took a deep breath. _Time for you to pay…_ The Spartan thought before releasing a loud, hair-raising battle-cry.

" _ **ATLAS FLAME!"**_

Within a second, Lucius became the literal definition of his nickname, the Flaming Spartan. His armor was engulfed in flames. It covered him from head to toe, the only parts that remained untouched were his gold visor and teeth-painted mouthpiece.

" _ **I think you should harden your skin, you should. Before I burn you to a crispy-toasty-crispy-toast."**_

Annie stared at the spectacle in front of her with wide eyes. _He's insane!_

Then the Flaming Fury whizzed straight at the Female Titan. Annie immediately tried hardening her skin, desperately trying to defend herself.

But the Spartan only stretched out his hand in front of him. _**"You cannot escape your punishment."**_ Then an enormous pillar of fire shot from the flamethrower, at the falling Titaness.

FWOOSH!

Upon contact, the flames burnt through Annie's hardened skin. The great fire reduced the sparkling diamond skin into no more than charred dust. But it didn't stop there. The fire burned through Annie's regular skin, blackening it. Then the fire turned it into dust and worked its way through muscle, blood, ligament, bone and marrow.

The once blond-haired head of the Female Titan was engulfed in flame. The once captivating Titan face now melted like wax.

" _AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_ The Female Titan shrieked in pain and terror. She wanted it to end! Let it all end! She regretted it, she regretted killing Squad Levi! _Just make it stop!_

BOOM!

The flaming body of the Female Titan landed on the ground.

By now, the Titan's blackened skull appeared and fell off its combusting host. Inside the nape, Annie was crying and struggling through the excruciating pain. She had lost her Titan head, so she did not know what was going on. Then the flesh of the nape in front of her began to bubble and blister.

 _No…_ She thought in horror. Then the flesh burned away and a blazing hand reached through the orifice and grabbed the girl by the face. Annie screamed at the pain of the hot hand burning her face. Then she felt herself being jerked up. Her face was now only inches away from the burning grin of Lucius' helmet.

" _Who are you?!"_ Annie choked out through her tears.

" _ **I am the Warrior of Fire and Love, Bearer of the Fire-Heart, Blood-Descendant of Samurai and Knights. I am a Spartan-II, Brother to the Demon of Humanity. I am the Dragon Of Eurasia…I AM LUCIUS!"**_

Then the Spartan ripped Annie out of the Titan body and released her. Upon her face was a burn mark in the shape of a hand. Lucius reared his arm back.

Annie could do nothing but watch as the Spartan II sent his fist flying at her face, while releasing the most savage roar she had ever heard before in her life. For one second, the contrast of light made the teeth of the mouthpiece appear to be opened as Lucius roared.

" _ **RRRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!"**_

The girl flew back, landing a few meters away from her crisped Titan body. Annie cringed in fear, covering her face. Then she looked, at Lucius with pure hate and venom in her eyes, as tears ran down from them. " _You haven't won…You will_ _ **never**_ _win!"_ Then a light began to emit from Annie. Lucius covered his eyes and turned away as a large flash emitted from Annie.

When Lucius looked back, he saw a gigantic diamond, engulfing the blond-haired girl. Lucius stared at the diamond with merciless eyes. _You may hide from us, but you cannot hide from what is inevitable. We will win, I'll see to it._

Then Lucius sensed that someone was standing behind him. The Spartan II raised his energy shields, compressing them down on his armor and choking out his flames. He turned around and standing only ten feet away, was Master Chief.

The two stared at one another in silence as the flames around them continued to burn. It was unclear what either was thinking at the moment. It was a tense moment for both soldiers. It had been years since they last saw one another, with Chief thinking that Lucius had been dead since Reach.

After several seconds, Chief decided to go first. He approached Lucius. "I never thought-!"

"WATAAAA!" Lucius yelled as he flying kicked Chief in the head.

The Master Chief let out a groan as he flew back, skidding and rolling across the ground. He eventually stopped and got back up, groaning as he did so. He had to admit, he did not see that coming. "Lucius! What the hell?!"

But the Red Spartan gave no indication of remorse. "That was for leaving me behind on Reach!" Lucius yelled at his groaning brother. "Now we're even!"

Chief got up and looked at Lucius while rubbing his helmet. He glared at Lucius with an annoyed look. Lucius in turn, crossed his arms showing that he wasn't sorry at all. The two looked at one another like this for ten seconds. Then they both made a simultaneous sound.

"Pffft!"

Lucius bent down, howling with wild laughter as Chief gave off a lighter chuckle. The two soldiers stood facing one another, laughing for the first time in years. Two soldiers...two comrades…two friends…two brothers…had finally reunited for the first time in many years.

CRASH!

The cherished moment was abruptly and unfortunately halted by something landing nearby. During Annie's climb on the Wall, the Titaness had created some holes with her hardened toes and fingers in the Wall. Then during Annie's fall and during Lucius' Final Punishment, the flames may have scorched the Wall as well. Now, some pieces of rubble had loosened and fallen from the Wall.

Chief and Lucius stared at the rubble that had fallen nearby. Lucius looked back at Chief, rubbing his helmet sheepishly.

"Can we pretend _that_ didn't happen just now?"

 **Author's Note :**

 **I wrote this chapter two years ago before I took down Attack On Titan: The Shift of Tides. Sadly I never posted it. I hope this makes up for a lack of posts on Titanomachy. Sadly, college turned out to be more time consuming than I thought. But I hope to update soon.**


End file.
